


One Word

by deviance



Series: Split-Second Soulmates [3]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, lawyer AU, mild mention of sexual assault, not happy ending, not how actual trials work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:05:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7249558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deviance/pseuds/deviance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aomine was the best lawyer in the state.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Word

**Author's Note:**

> So I tagged it, but seriously this is not how actual trials work. And it's certainly not how death sentences work. Again, this is just some angst drabble practice for me. Please don't hate on the inaccuracies of how I wrote the judicial system.

Aomine fought to keep the smirk off his face, feeling smug. He had this case in the bag. 

Honestly, looking over the facts, he was sure this whole thing was a drunken accident. A few friends get wasted, messing around at a club, then head home. Some stranger on the street hits on one of the girls, gets a little too touchy, too pushy, too close, and the next thing you know you’ve got a drunken brawl and one of the guys is just too wasted to know when to stop punching. 

Aomine looked down, flipping through a few of the case files. He wasn’t worried. And maybe it pricked at his conscience, knowing he was pushing for the death sentence in a case that would usually result in ten-to-twenty, but the victim’s mother had waved a hundred thousand in his face and he’d been bought. He was the best lawyer in the state and now he was about to add another win to his record. 

The trial had been ridiculously fast. This was only the third day of the proceedings and already they were calling the jury to make a decision. Aomine hadn’t even seen the defendant properly yet, just the top of his hair. He’d refused to look up once during the trial, shoulders slumped, spirit broken. When he’d given his testimony, all he’d done was say he was sorry over and over again, saying he had been drunk, saying that he didn’t mean to do it. His voice was broken, rough from crying, and it never failed to send shivers down Aomine’s spine. He guessed it was just his conscience eating away at him for condemning someone who really hadn’t meant to do what he’d done. If he’d been facing any other lawyer, he wouldn’t be facing a possible death sentence. But because it was Aomine, not only was that a potential sentence, it was a likely sentence. 

Aomine focused back on his gray-colored world as the jury filed back into the courtroom and the bailiff called everyone to order. A hush fell over the courtroom and the victim’s mother seated next to him sat up straight, wiping at her eyes with a tissue. 

“Has the jury come to a decision?” the Judge asked solemnly. 

“We have, your Honor,” a juror spoke, standing straight. “We find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder.” 

The Judge nodded, turning back to the defendant. Aomine glanced over at him, watching him flinch like he’d been struck. Someone cried out from behind him, probably his own parents. 

“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Mr. Kagami?” 

The defendant looking up under his unruly bangs, meeting the Judge’s eyes evenly as he shook he head. “No, sir,” he murmured. 

The Judge nodded, looking down at his notes. “Then I am granting the Motion made by the plaintiff’s party and sentencing you to death by injection.” 

Now there really was screams coming from the court. He saw an officer moving to usher a woman outside. A line of people near his own age was sitting behind the defendant and they were all crying. His client stood, proud, walking around him to glare down at the defendant even as another officer told her to back away, trying to keep her away from the man sitting in cuffs. The other officers were instructing the defendant to stand, moving to lead him back to a holding cell until the sentence could be carried out. 

“This is what you deserve for taking my boy from me,” the victim’s mother spat, damn-nearly growling as she pushed against the officer holding her back. “I hope you enjoy hell!” 

The defendant’s head jerked up at being spoken too, watching her with guilt and shame clear on his face. He flinched at her accusations, red eyes flickering over to Aomine’s before returning to her’s as he opened his mouth to try and respond. 

Aomine stiffened, sitting up straight as his breath caught in his chest. Kagami’s eyes widened, flickering back immediately to hold Aomine’s gaze. Red eyes shone with amazement before a grief unlike anything Aomine had ever seen crossed his features. Aomine felt bile in the back of his throat, standing to his feet, not knowing what to do. 

The officers, in their blue uniforms, were ushering Kagami out, even as the redhead refused to turn away from Aomine, eyes roving his face like he wanted to memorize it. Aomine stepped forward, hands twitching, body shaking, eyes burning, and then the brown door slammed shut, taking his soulmate with it. 

_Guilty._

Aomine looked down at his hands, saw the tremors in them. He heard the insanity of the court, yells and cheers and cries and shouts. The Judge was demanding order, slamming his gavel repeatedly. The officers were trying to get people to calm down or escorting those who wouldn’t outside. His client was sniffling and muttering about how Kagami deserved it, how she hoped it hurt, how she wished him to hell. 

Aomine was shattering. 

“Case adjourned,” the Judge announced, slamming the gavel one last time before stepping down from the pedestal, black robes swirling behind him as he headed to his quarters. 

Aomine couldn’t move. People milled out the court, some still crying, some over it already. His client patted his arm, thanking him for his service and promising to bring the rest of his payment by his office next week. She said she’d give him a bonus, that her son had been worth it. 

“Sir, you need to vacate the courtroom so we can start the next trial.” Aomine looked up, seeing an officer standing before him. He nodded disconnectedly, grabbing his briefcase and heading out. 

That night he laid on his bed, watching the sun’s rays change colors against his ceiling as it set. He didn’t sleep. When the morning came and the color’s washed over his room again, he couldn’t help but lift his arm, reaching out and letting the reds and oranges and yellows flicker across his skin. 

And then it was gray. The color was instantly washed away, leaving grays and whites. Aomine’s breath hitched. His eyes burned. His arm fell and he trembled. He’d…His soulmate…He was…He was… 

_Guilty._


End file.
